Sailing the Northwest

I grew up in a family obsessed with taking pictures and video.  From the old-style Super8 Film cameras to the Sony 8mm camcorder to the Sony Digital8 digicam to miniDV and now HD camcorders, every family event has been permanently caught on videotape.  But even with the advent of DVD to transfer your video from videotape to a more stable platform, our videos have always been hard to watch, and even harder to share.

Maybe that’s why I fell in love with the Flip Video when it launched from Pure Digital last year.  I immediately bought two of these new style digital “camcorders” - one for my wife, and one for me - and recommend them to anyone I know.  These camcorders do for video what the digital camera did for photos - They make it incredibly simple to shoot and share video.

Today, Pure Digital just announced it’s latest member to the Flip Family, the Flip Video Mino.  Smaller than most cell phones, you can pick one of these up for only $179.99 and capture every moment from your next sailing trip.

With 2GB of memory, you can capture up to 60 minutes of high-quality video, and easily import the video onto your computer using the attached flip-out USB arm.  No more messing with recording video via Firewire or an expensive video capture card - each video scene is a separate file on the Flip, making them easy to watch and upload to your favorite private or public video sharing site.

And that’s why it’s perfect for your boat.  You can make your friends jealous by firing off a couple of video emails or posting them to your blog or personal website.  And the video quality (4.0mbps) is high enough to get a good (not great) quality DVD from the scenes you like.

Flip Video Mino Features

• Weight: 3.3 oz.
• One-touch recording with 2x digital zoom
• Touch-sensitive buttons for instant recording, playback, fast forward, rewind, pause and delete
• Built-in software compatible with PC or Mac:
  • Instant upload to MySpace, YouTube, and AOL Video
  • One-click emailing of videos and video greeting cards
  • Custom editing of movie mixes, with the option to set them to your own music
  • Capture of still photos from video
  • Order DVDs online and have them shipped anywhere in the world
• TV connection for instant viewing (cable included)
• Tripod mount
• Available accessories (sold separately): AC power adapter, tripod, action mount, and pouch
• Available in black or white; suggested retail price: $179.99